Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
Koa (Koa)
“OH! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! OH MY GOD! OMG OMG OMG OMG!”
The amount of joy pouring off Cassie is contagious. The brothers working around her all stop what they’re doing to smile and watch her. Hell, some even bounce on their toes like they just can’t contain themselves.
“I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!”
The fizzy feeling in my chest rises with each excited jump. Not even her tits bouncing delectably can take me out of this moment.
“I swear to fucking god if they so much as see the color of her nipple I’ll—”
“PARKER! DID YOU SEE?!” Cassie screeches, running up to him and swinging him around in a circle. That’s another way to stop his threats. Cassie’s happiness, my mouth. We got him handled.
“I did, Sunshine. I’m so proud of you,” Parker praises, kissing her scarred eyebrow. Grease is streaked across one of her cheeks and her hair is a matted, red mess on top of her head. I’ve never seen something so fucking gorgeous.
“What was she working on today?” Maddox whispers in my ear, joining in on the celebration.
Parker and I have been watching, stalking, Cassie for the past hour as she wrestled with her motorcycle. Ripley and Mads have been organizing her surprise.
I lean against his chest and breathe him in. “Oil change.”
“I’m guessing she did—”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID IT!”
Chuckling, I nod. “Yes, she has successfully changed her oil for the first time.”
It’s been a tough month for her since coming home from the hospital. She’s had to rest and recuperate. Add on the fact that her shoulder hinders almost everything she does, and there have been a few angry tears shed as she tries to get back to normal.
The anger at Victor is what drove her to seek therapy. She despised the fact that a dead man could still hurt her. It’s only been a few weeks of seeing her therapist, but channeling her big feelings into a new goal has done wonders.
She’s spent most of the month studying bike mechanics.
Once we let her leave the house, because we all have our issues, she sat with the brothers in the garage.
Cassie became a sponge. She soaked in all the information she could so that when she could move her shoulder without screaming, she could try small jobs.
We aren’t sure how her injury will affect her career as a tattoo artist yet. The damaged side is her dominant one. She’s not ready to talk about it, but tinkering on bikes seems to fill her with enough purpose to keep her fulfilled.
“Is everything ready?” I murmur so she doesn’t hear me, even though she’s dragging Parker to her bike to point out all the things she did. Fuck, I love her.
Ripley saunters up to us and wraps an arm around my waist. “She is going to love it,” he declares with a smile, only for it to falter. “If she doesn’t, I’ll buy her the giraffe she always talks about.”
“Does anyone even know what her fixation is on giraffes?” I ask, genuinely confused.
She walks around giggling about tall giraffes after a few beers. Literally every walk home from the clubhouse after midnight is filled with chatter about how tall a giraffe is and if they even live in Michigan.
Mads chuckles, nuzzling my ear. “No fucking clue. But I agree, get her a giraffe. The little one would love it. Oh, speaking of—”
“SISSIE!!!!”
Cassie whirls around with eyes as wide as saucers. “Holy fucking shit! I mean—Damn it. UGH!” Her face turns red with frustration at herself, but she manages one of her cleansing breaths and sprints to Violet’s little sister. “OPAL!!!”
Our woman and her best friend’s six-year-old sibling collide in the biggest hug I have ever fucking seen. “Shit, we need to step up our game,” I mutter, nudging Ripley who nods seriously.
While Cassie has struggled with emotional regulation, Ripley is back to his usual brooding, unhinged, sweet self.
Although there’s a shadow that crosses his face when he thinks no one is looking that me and the guys are keeping an eye on.
I’m sure Cassie’s noticed too but she hasn’t pushed. Patience.
“Raven’s here too!” Opal shouts.
Just like that, the woman and child run out the garage doors. I think we, and all the brothers, stand there a little stunned in the aftermath of all that happiness, but hell, we shove each other out of the way so we can get another hit of that sunshine. Our north star.
“MOMMA!” Opal drags Cassie over to a woman I’ve only ever researched. For Cassie’s safety of course.
The smile on Cassie’s face makes me want to burn the fences to the ground. Everyone in her family will always be welcome. Any time. No matter the hour as long as she keeps smiling.
“Blue?! Tell me you didn’t come all the way out here for me!” Cassie envelopes the blue-haired woman in a tight hug that lasts long enough to tell me there’s a deeper connection than I thought. Blue lived a hard life…and that’s just what I read. I can’t imagine the reality she suffered.
I tune the women out when Maddox slaps Parker and Ripley upside their heads when they start growling and glaring at Blue’s husbands. Violet and her three men also crowd around, making my chest pinch with that familiar urge to pull my gun out and drag my old lady back to my side.
“Do you see how many there are?” Parker snarls, gesturing to the seven men around the three women, baby, and child.
Ripley shakes his shoulders and hands out. The shock I feel when he lays a palm on Parker’s shoulder takes my breath away.
“Now when Cassie goes out dancing, because she will, you can vet the men we’ll be guarding her with,” Ripley argues, sounding…sane.
I feel the color drain from my face at the concept of her leaving the compound. Ever. Which is why the topic of a tracker is still on the table no matter what Cassie says.
Maddox gets their attention with a loud whistle, gesturing for Opal to follow him. The little one glances up at her mom first, who nods, then she makes eye contact with all four of her dads before skipping over to him.
In her twinkly, tiny voice, she says, “Yes, Mr. President?”
“I think my heart just melted,” I mutter breathlessly.
I literally hear Parker gulp.
And Ripley? Well, he stomps right up to Cassidy and tells her, “How do I take your IUD out?”
Closing my eyes in request for patience, I watch Mads turn Opal to look out over toward the homes. And there stands a great big playground. “I had that set up today.”
“No WAY!” she screams much like her pseudo sister and bolts off in that direction. Before anyone can call her back, she turns on her heel and runs right into Maddox’s legs. “Thank you, Mr. President!”
“You’re welcome, rugrat. For you, baby Raven, and for all the other kids who come along.” He doesn’t specify whose kids, but we certainly hope some of ours will be chasing Opal and Raven through the small grassy field someday.
Judging by the pure love and longing in Cassie’s eyes, I don’t think we’ll have any argument over that topic.